1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to interconnected computer networks, and more particularly to an ultra-low latency, multi-protocol, optical router with a peta-bit per second total aggregate switching bandwidth.
2. Description of the Background Art
Telecommunications is currently undergoing a large-scale transformation. The explosive growth in the Internet, multi-media services, and computer communications is demanding a national network that can accommodate the entire amount of traffic in a cost effective manner. Advances in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology have ushered in networks that are orders of magnitude higher in transmission bandwidth than existing networks. The “Next Generation Internet” (NGI) is expected to benefit from the high capacity and versatility of the multiwavelength optical networking technology. A number of commercial vendors have embarked on building next-generation core routers incorporating large scale electronic switch fabrics. While such routers demonstrate impressive aggregate switching capacities of terabits-per-second, however, it is evident that the power consumption and the physical size of these routers will limit scalability of the electronic routers much beyond the terabit regime.
FIG. 1 illustrates the typical switching architecture of the core in terabit routers currently being investigated by the industry. One of the key limiting factors in scaling these large electronic routers lies in power requirements. Due to the high-speed and high-connectivity requirements of such routers, they must employ optical interconnections between the transponders at the edges and the electronic switch fabric. The power requirements scale as 3aN+bN2 where N is the product of the total number of ports and wavelengths, a is the power dissipation per transponder, and b is the power dissipation per cross-point in the electronic switching fabric. This assumes a crossbar switch for the electronic switching fabric; however, the Banyan or Benes architecture will include a term which is approximately (bNlog2N) instead of (bN2). Typical transponders dissipate typically 2.0 Watts for 2.5 Gb/s short reach, and higher for higher speed and longer reach transponders. Accordingly, the total power requirements for a terabit electronic router typically exceed 10 kW for a long reach (>50 km) and high bit rates (>2.5 Gb/s).
Therefore, there is a need for an ultra-low latency, multi-protocol, optical router with a peta-bit per second total aggregate switching bandwidth that is physically compact and has low power requirements. The present invention satisfies those needs, as well as others, and overcomes deficiencies in conventional router technology.